THE 


CITY'S  DISEASE  AND  REMEDY. 

PREACHED  IN  THE  FOURTH  AVENUE  PRESBYTERIAN 
CHURCH,  NEW  YORK, 

ON 

THANKSGIVING  DAY,  NOVEMBER  29,  1883, 


BY 

HOWARD  CROSBY, 

PASTOR. 


NEW  YORK : 

ANSON    D.   F.   RANDOLPH    &  COMPANY, 
900  Broadway,  cor.  20th  Street. 


Ex  ffitbrtfl 


SEYMOUR  DURST 


When  you  leave,  please  leave  this  book 

Because  it  has  been  said 
"Sver'thing  comes  t'  bim  wbo  waits 

Except  a  loaned  book." 


Avery  Architectural  and  Fine  Arts  Library 
Gift  of  Seymour  B.  Durst  Old  York  Library 


THE 


CITY'S  DISEASE  AND  REMEDY. 

PREACHED  IN  THE  FOURTH  AVENUE  PRESBYTERIAN 
CHURCH,   NEW  YORK, 

ON 

THANKSGIVING  DAY,  NOVEMBER  29,  1883, 


BY 

HOWARD  CROSBY, 

PASTOR. 


NEW  YORK : 

ANSON    D.    F.    RANDOLPH    &  COMPANY, 
900  Broadway,  cor.  20th  Street, 


AA 


The  City's  Disease  and  Remedy. 


"  When  the  righteous  are  in  authority,  the  people  rejoice  : 
but  when  the  wicked  beareth  rule  the  people  mourn." — 
Prov.  xxix.  2. 


MAN  without  moral  principle  is  dangerous 


/~V  anywhere  ;  and  the  higher  you  put  him  in  so- 
ciety, the  more"  dangerous  he  becomes.  His  influence 
is  only  for  evil ;  and  if  you  give  that  influence  the 
additional  force  of  authority,  you  poison  the  main 
channels  of  political  and  social  life.  The  poison  is 
the  more  deadly,  the  stronger  in  will  and  energy  the 
man  is.  Add  to  the  one  unprincipled  man  in  official 
authority  a  band  of  confederates  of  like  sort  and  you 
obtain  a  diseased  community,  where  vice  and  crime 
break  out  on  every  side  from  the  virulent  poisons  that 
have  been  generated  and  fostered  by  the  causes  re- 
ferred to.  When  the  vicious  elements  of  a  commu- 
nity are  found  in  the  lower  classes  only,  and  among 
those  who  have  no  significance  in  the  political  body, 
they  can  be  controlled  to  such  an  extent  as  to  pre- 
serve the  general  life  from  evil ;  but  when  those  ele- 
ments include  leaders  of  thought  and  action,  and  those 


4 

that  fill  the  offices  of  public  trust,  then,  instead  of 
mere  excrescences  upon  the  surface,  we  have  the 
vitals  affected  with  the  disease,  and  nothing  short  of 
the  most  radical  treatment  can  save  the  patient. 

And  this  is  the  condition  of  New  York  City  to- 
day. The  vicious  elements  of  the  city  are  in  places 
of  authority.  The  wicked  bear  rule.  Men,  whom 
no  decent  family  would  allow  to  enter  its  door,  are 
set  to  make  the  city  ordinances.  Men,  whose  touch 
is  pollution,  arc  set  to  enforce  the  laws.  Men,  who 
are  brutalized  with  strong  drink,  are  set  to  pass 
judgment  on  those  who  are  accused  of  breaking  the 
laws.  Will  our  fellow-citizens  disregard  this  melan- 
choly fact  ?  It  is  no  exaggeration.  Legislators,  ex- 
ecutive officers,  and  judges  are  filthy  and  vile.  Of 
course  there  arc  honorable  exceptions  (and  the  judi- 
ciary is  generally  pure,  especially  in  the  higher  courts), 
but  with  these  I  am  not  now  dealing.  The  govern- 
ment is  rotten  if  any  part  of  it  is  rotten.  It  will  not 
do  to  call  an  apple  sound  because  some  parts  of  it  are 
sound.  It  gets  its  character  from  the  rotten  parts. 
If  one  half  of  it  only  is  rotten,  it  is  a  rotten  apple, 
in  spite  of  the  other  half.  The  actual,  practical 
government  of  New  York  City  to-day  is  allied  to 
the  lowest  stratum  of  evil  in  the  city.  It  is  allied  to 
thieves,  gamblers,  and  prostitutes,  and  hence  it  is 
almost  an  impossibility  to  bring  some  of  the  criminal 


5 


classes  to  punishment,  they  are  so  shielded  by  their 
sympathizers  in  office.  Every  form  of  delay,  refusal 
of  evidence  and  other  obstruction  is  thrown  in  the 
way  until  the  prosecutor  gives  up  in  despair  and  the 
rascal  gets  off,  free  to  continue  his  depredations  on 
the  morals  of  the  community.  Open  and  unblushing 
defiance  of  law  is  allowed  in  the  face  of  the  police 
and  police  courts,  and  the  law-breakers  boast  of  their 
pecuniary  arrangements  with  the  authorities.  "  The 
wicked  bear  rule  and  the  people  mourn."  When  we 
look  to  a  good  Mayor  for  relief,  we  are  told  by  that 
magistrate  that  he  can  appoint  to  office  only  those 
whom  ten  liquor-sellers  approve,  and  whom  ten  liquor- 
sellers  will  approve  we  all  know.  When  we  look  to 
the  District  Attorney  for  relief,  he  tells  us  that  the 
calendar  is  too  full,  and  he  has  no  time  to  take  up 
new  cases.  When  we  look  to  the  Police  Commis- 
sioners for  relief,  they  say  that  they  can  procure  no 
evidence.  When  we  look  to  the  Excise  Commis- 
sioners for  relief — well,  it  is  like  washing  off  black 
paint  with  ink.  There  is  no  desire,  and  hence  no 
effort  on  the  part  of  the  authorities,  to  stay  the  tor- 
rent of  vice  and  crime.  If  there  were  such  an  effort 
made,  too  many  of  the  authorities  themselves  would 
be  found  involved.  This  is  the  wretched  condition 
of  our  city  to-day.  The  wicked  bear  rule  and  the 
people  mourn.    Are  we  to  rest  contented  with  this  ? 


6 


Or  are  we  to  fold  our  hands  in  despair  ?  Is  there  not 
enough  virtue  and  pluck  and  common-sense  in  this 
community  to  turn  the  tables  and  to  make  it,  that  the 
righteous  shall  be  in  authority  and  the  people  rejoice  ? 
This  is  the  other  picture  which  we  would  look  on. 
This  is  the  possible  condition  of  our  city  which  we  an: 
responsible  for  not  making  actual.  Do  you  ask,  "  How 
shall  we  do  it  ? "  f  answer,  that  the  way  is  perfectly 
plain. 

I.  Let  the  national  party  lines  be  obliterated  in 
this  city  when  city  affairs  are  to  be  attended  to. 
What  have  we  to  do  here  with  Republicans  or  Demo- 
crats?   The  only  object  politicians  can  have  in  elect- 
ing partisans  in  the  city  is  the  unrighteous  use  of 
office  influence  in  the  general  elections.    This  must 
be  stopped.    The  great  city  of  New  York  is  not  to 
be  sacrificed  for  the  gain  of  partisans.    Our  interests 
are  too  great  and  too  sacred  to  be  given  up  to  be  a 
foot-ball  for  politicians,  the  half  of  whom  are  foreign- 
ers who  know  nothing  of  our  civilization  or  our  insti- 
tutions, and  are  profoundly  ignorant  of  all  political 
truth.    The  men  in  this  city  who  wish  good  govern- 
ment form  a  large  majority  of  our  population,  but 
this  majority  is  rendered  inefficient  by  being  divided 
between  the  two  parties,  each  portion  voting  what 
they  call  the  "  regular  ticket,"  no  matter  what  names 
are  on  it.    It  is  for  this  majority  to  become  consoli- 


7 


dated,  and,  ignoring  all  party  lines,  to  nominate  men 
of  probity  for  every  office.  This  can  be  done,  not  by 
any  well-known  political  hack  prating  about  an  inde- 
pendent citizens'  movement  and  framing  it  for  his 
private  benefit,  but  by  the  joint  action  of  (say)  a 
score  of  our  trusted  fellow-citizens,  who  are  known  to 
be  above  party  bigotry  and  private  scheming.  Such 
a  group  of  men  meeting,  and  carefully  excluding 
every  known  politician,  and  nominating  men  of  char- 
acter for  every  office,  and  furnishing  the  necessary 
ballots  at  every  polling-place,  would  revolutionize  the 
city,  and  drive  the  rowdies  into  oblivion.  The  $20,- 
000  that  might  be  necessary  to  pay  the  expenses  of 
such  a  work  in  providing  ballots,  stands,  placards,  and 
holders,  would  readily  be  subscribed  by  the  citizens. 
One  election  of  this  sort  would  make  the  following 
elections  far  easier  to  manage,  and  in  a  few  years  we 
should  find  the  city  electing  good  men  without  any 
effort  at  all.  The  majority  in  this  city  has  this  power 
in  its  hands  to-day.  Hence  the  greatness  of  the  sin 
of  leaving  the  city  in  the  hands  of  the  vile  and  de- 
graded. 

But  so  long  as  good  men  will  go  with  their  party 
and  vote  for  scoundrels,  we  shall  see  things  go  from 
worse  to  worse,  until  there  will  be  no  security  for  life 
or  property  in  our  city.  And  when  the  city  is  de- 
stroyed, let  the  good  and  moral  men  understand  that 


8 


they  have  done  it  by  their  silly  adherence  to  party 
rather  than  to  truth  and  righteousness. 

2.  A  second  need  is  the  faithful  attention  to  the 
voting  pozver  given  each  citizen.  Thousands  of  good 
men  in  the  city  fail  to  vote  at  a  city  election.  "  Oh,  I 
don't  bother  myself  about  such  matters,"  says  one. 
11 1  haven't  time  to  vote,"  says  another.  "  I  hate  this 
going  to  a  polling-place,  there  is  such  a  noisome 
crowd  there,"  says  a  third.  "  It  won't  make  any  dif- 
ference whether  I  vote  or  not — what  is  one  vote?" 
says  a  fourth.  And  in  this  way  apathy  and  laziness 
give  up  the  city  to  the  loafers,  who  are  ready  enough 
to  give  time  and  energy  to  vote  the  evil  element  into 
office.  Let  me  tell  such  apathetic  citizens  that  they 
have  been  made  by  God  rulers  in  this  land,  and  if 
they  do  not  exercise  their  power,  God  will  call  them 
to  account.  They  can  not  get  off  with  impunity.  A 
vote  is  a  power  entrusted  you  by  God.  Woe  unto 
you  if  you  hide  that  power,  when  you  ought  to  use  it ! 
In  a  monarchical  country  you  could  remain  passive  ; 
but  where  God  has  made  the  citizens  kings,  you  can 
not.  The  people  rule  here,  and  you  are  one  of  the 
people.  You  can  not  abdicate.  You  can  only  shirk 
responsibility.  And  then  the  wicked  bear  rule.  It 
is  your  duty  to  give  time  and  discrimination  to  your 
vote.  It  is  the  single  abstainings  from  voting  which 
make  the  aggregate  remissness.    Do  your  duty,  and 


9 

at  least  save  your  own  conscience.  A  Christian 
who  prays  for  his  country  and  doesn't  vote,  prays  very 
inconsistently,  if  not  heartlessly.  I  find  that  it  is 
these  non-voting  citizens  who  are  the  principal  grunt- 
ers  and  growlers  at  the  bad  state  of  things.  They 
fold  their  hands  and  groan,  when  they  ought  to  be  up 
striking  the  foe.  The  twenty  thousand  voters  of  this 
city  who  do  not  vote  hold  the  balance  of  power,  and 
they  alone  could  control  the  elections  for  good,  even 
if  the  rest  kept  to  their  party  lines. 

3.  A  third  need  is  for  the  good  citizen  to  be  public- 
spirited,  and  take  personal  interest  in  the  city  where 
he  lives,  and  whose  benefits  he  enjoys.  Good  citizens 
will  allow  a  nuisance  or  a  gross  evil  to  be  established 
under  their  eyes,  when  by  taking  a  few  hours  of 
their  time  they  could  prevent  or  remove  it.  The 
rogues  and  rascals  take  advantage  of  this  supineness, 
and  multiply  their  engines  of  evil,  knowing  that  the 
good  people  of  the  neighborhood  will  not  take  the 
trouble  to  oust  them,  and  knowing  also  well  that  the 
police  of  themselves  would  never  dream  of  such  a 
thing. 

If  you  see  an  act  of  rowdyism  or  any  form  of  law- 
breaking  in  the  street,  it  is  your  duty  as  a  citizen  and  a 
ruler  to  call  a  policeman,  tell  him  to  arrest  the  offender, 
and  offer  to  accompany  him  and  make  the  complaint. 
"  Catch  me  giving  up  an  hour  of  my  precious  time 


for  the  public  ! "  is  your  reply.  Suppose  a  nuisance 
was  put  upon  your  doorstep,  wouldn't  you  pretty 
quickly  call  the  police,  and  make  your  complaint  ? 
If  men  should  dump  the  filth  of  the  city  in  the  street 
in  front  of  your  house,  and  thus  threatened  you  or 
your  family  with  typhoid  fever,  wouldn't  you  call  the 
police  and  make  your  complaint  ?  And  yet  you'll  see 
crime  committed  before  your  eyes,  and  laws  broken 
with  impunity,  and  never  attempt  to  interfere,  al- 
though this  impunity  is  spreading  a  moral  pestilence 
through  the  city  worse  than  typhoid  fever.  The  two 
thousand  policemen  of  this  huge  city  can  not  see  every 
wrong  that  is  done.  You  must  help  them.  More- 
over, in  many  cases  a  policeman's  testimony  alone  is 
not  accepted  by  the  courts  against  the  oath  of  the  de- 
fendant. There  is  need  of  an  additional  witness,  and 
you  are  that  witness.  But  when  you  see  a  gross 
wrong,  you  hurry  away  lest  you  might  be  taken  as  a 
witness,  and  your  precious  time  be  encroached  upon. 
And  that's  the  way  you  do  your  duty  as  a  citizen  for 
the  peace  and  order  of  the  city.  Ah  !  when  shall  we 
have  citizens  of  public  spirit  ?  Again,  why  do  you 
not  attend  the  primaries,  and  see  to  it  that  decent  men 
are  nominated  ?  Why  do  you  leave  nominations  to 
the  dregs  of  your  party?  Why  do  you  give  to  a 
minority,  who  keep  or  frequent  rum-holes,  the  man- 
agement of  your  party  ?    Is  it  your  laziness,  or  your 


1 1 


overwhelming  selfishness,  or  are  you  satisfied  with 
things  as  they  are  ?  Turn  over  a  new  leaf,  I  beseech 
you.  Think  of  your  duty,  and  do  it.  Give  time  and 
thought  to  the  welfare  of  the  city  which  nourishes 
you.  Take  interest  in  all  its  public  affairs.  Express 
your  opinions,  and  endorse  them  by  actions.  Don't 
be  afraid  of  what  others  may  say  or  do.  You  are  a 
sovereign,  and  can  be  independent.  Join  the  army 
of  those  who  are  determined  to  fight  until  every  rum- 
hole,  every  gambling  den,  and  every  house  of  prosti- 
tution is  swept  away  out  of  our  city. 

There  is  a  society  of  men  who  have  no  interest  in 
party  politics,  which  is  now  laboring  to  achieve  a  vic- 
tory over  these  civic  evils.  The  society  has  been 
fighting  six  years.  It  has  received  very  little  sympa- 
thy, very  little  money,  although  obliged  to  pay  agents 
to  accomplish  its  designs.  It  is  a  society  which  has 
no  selfish  purpose,  but  simply  seeks  to  enforce  law 
and  to  uphold  the  hands  of  good  magistrates  against 
the  evil  influence  and  activity  of  the  bad  ones.  It 
has  been  successful  in  staying  the  tide  of  law-break- 
ing to  a  degree.  It  has  been  able  to  mark  progress 
in  several  directions.  Its  work  has  developed  the  fact 
of  the  enormous  corruption  existing  in  our  city  gov- 
ernment. It  has  sent  to  prison  many  prominent  of- 
fenders. But  its  hands  are  enfeebled  by  want  of 
funds.    Its  field  of  accomplishment  is  tantalizingly 


I  2 


restricted  from  this  cause.  The  politicians  of  both 
parties  hate  it  because  it  exposes  their  rowdy  support- 
ers, and  shows  how  our  statesmen  keep  disorderly 
houses,  and  break  the  laws  as  part  of  their  statesman- 
ship. Now,  then,  brethren,  I  hesitate  not  to  say  that 
it  is  your  duty,  as  citizens,  to  support  this  society,  the 
Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Crime,  and  make  it 
strong  to  perform  its  task.  The  eighteen  men  who 
compose  its  board  are  all  busy  workers,  but  they  find 
time  to  look  after  the  interests  of  the  city.  But  they 
can  not  give  all  their  time.  They  must  attend  to 
their  domestic  and  business  duties.  They  must  em- 
ploy salaried  men  to  attend  constantly  to  the  work  of 
purifying  the  city. 

Will  you  help  them  with  hard  cash  ?  Will  you 
sympathize  with  them  and  their  work  in  a  practical 
way  ? 

If  this  society  is  sustained  it  will  do  the  pioneer 
work,  but  all  good  citizens  must  arise  to  a  sense  of 
their  responsibility  and  their  power,  and  follow  the 
principles  we  have  enunciated,  if  the  city  is  to  be  re- 
deemed from  the  hands  of  the  base  and  vicious. 

The  wicked  now  bear  rule,  and  the  people  mourn. 
If  the  good  citizens  will  only  do  their  duty,  the  right 
eous  will  be  in  authority,  and  the  people  will  rejoice. 

"What  sort  of  a  Thanksgiving  sermon  is  this," 
do  you  say  ?    It  is  all  complaint  and  not  thanksgiv- 


13 


ing.  No  !  brethren,  the  very  basis  of  the  complaint 
is  a  grand  source  of  thanksgiving.  The  basis  of  the 
complaint  is  the  privilege  God  has  given  us  to  rectify 
the  great  evil.  We  are  by  God's  good  providence  so 
situated  in  this  city,  as  free  and  independent  voters, 
that  we  have  it  in  our  power  to  overturn  the  powers  of 
wickedness  in  high  places.  We  are  not  held  down 
by  absolutism.  We  are  not  slaves,  but  freemen.  It 
is  for  us  to  thank  God  that  our  condition  is  not  hope- 
less, that  Christian  truth  has  permeated  the  mass  of 
our  fellow-citizens,  and  made  its  deep  impression  for 
morality  and  law,  and  that  the  moral  sentiment  of  the 
great  majority  is  just  and  healthy.  God  has  given  us 
wondrous  blessings.  Let  us  be  full  of  thanksgiving, 
and  not  abuse  His  mercies  by  our  neglect.  Let 
us  make  the  potentiality  a  reality  by  using  our  priv- 
ileges and  acting  conscientiously  before  God  in  dis- 
charging the  duties  of  citizenship. 


